84 CLINTON ON THE ANTIQUITIES, &c. 
The Iroquois formerly lived, according to their traditions, on the north 
side of the lakes. When they migrated to their present country they ex- 
tirpated the people who occupied it. And after the European settlement of 
America, the confederates destroyed the Eries or Cat Indians, who lived on 
the south side of Lake Erie. Whether the nation which possessed our 
western country before the Iroquois had erected those fortifications to pro- 
tect them against their invaders—or whether they were made by anterior 
inhabitants, are mysteries which cannot be penetrated by human sagacity— 
Nor can we pretend to decide whether the Eries or their predecessors raised 
the works of defence in their territory. But we are persuaded that enough 
has been said to indicate the existence of a vast population, settled in towns, 
defended by forts, cultivating agriculture, and more advanced in civilization 
than the nations which have inhabited the same countries since the Europe- 
an discovery. 
DEWITT CLINTON. 
ALBANY, 7th October, 1817. 
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